The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-04-20
Effects of the Interstate Com
merce Law,

Passenger Commissioner Samuel f. Pier
son was asked by a Tribune .reporter for
his views of the interstate commerce law.
After chewing the cud of reflection, he re-
Piled
The difficulty in making the law an
pears to have been that, instead of taking
the advice of Mr.. Cullom's committee the
managers on the part of the house had writ
ten TO all the soreheads in the country in
order to get wagon-load of complaints as
basis for legislation. When we reflect on
the number of people in the United States
who want something for nothing from a
railroad company, and who always con-
slider themselves injured if their particular
axe is not ground at the public expense. it
will not be surprising that this basis for
legislation should be a crude and improper
one and that the resulting law exhibits
some startling effects.
" HAD the law stopped with appointing an
advisory commission to collect statistics
and recommend legislation requiring the
publication of tariffs and prohibiting in GEN
era terms, unjust and unreasonable dis
crlmlnatlon, il would have inaugurated
reforms without any shock to business and
without exciting between the people and
the railroads, or the people and the govern
ment any of that prejudice which is almost
certain to grow out of the execution of the
present law The railroads have heretofore
done well in their treatment of the public
with perhaps one leading and important eX-
ception. The most unjust determinations
have grown directly out of unrestricted
competition 1t was proper that these dis
ordinations should be prohibited The
act, however, has abolished the best system
yet invented for the easy and natural pre-
ventlon of Unjust discrimination and substi-
tuted an almost impracticable rule
In us Application to passenger business
1t is exceedingly obscure. Indeed the law
appears to have been made for the freight
business and its application to the passen-
ger department. to have been an after
thought. We are permitted to carry freight
free or at reduced rates for the United
States, state or municipal governments, or
Tor charitable purposes, but are nowhere
permitted to carry passengers free or at re-
duced rates for any of these Although we
are prohibited in strong terms from any sort
OF unjust or unreasonable discrimination,
we are, in terms, permitted to issue mileage
tickets and thus continue a very bad form
of Discrimination. Nothing in this act APP
pies TO the issuance of excursion tickets
and yet what constitutes an excursion
ticket is nowhere defined. 1t is presumed
that the rates, limitations. restrictions or
determinations, if any such arise, and
everything relating to the issuance of such
tickets, are excluded from the operation OF
the law, and that excursion tariffs and con-
tracts are not required to be filed. Under
such an exception as this it is possible to do
large part of all the business of some rail-
road companies on excursion tickets at dis
criminative fares
" The law requires that there shall be no
discrimination in the facilities for through
business afforded connecting lines and vet
it would be practically impossible to furnish
through cars by all the connections of some
of the railroads,
3" If the issue of paSsenger-tickets and
baggage-checks over a connecting road is
regarded as "A facility, and all connections
are required to be treated alike in this re-
spect, it involves the assuming of money
responsibility for another without the
necessity for an agreement upon terms 1t
is certainly a new business principle TO re-
quire any individual or corporation to as
sumo money responsibility for another, or
TO permit another TO assume such a respOn-
sibility for itself, without any power to de-
fine the terms under which such an agency
shall be conducted
" But while il is possible TO find many
points for criticism, it is probably true that
a little experience under the new law will
enable both the railroads and the public to
adjust themselves more comfortably to the
new conditions after the lapse of time. If
commissions are stopped by the railroads,
and the money heretofore paid to middle
men is given to passengers in the shape of
reduced fares, certainly the public will have
no right to complain of such result
- 1t is possible that modification of the
long and short-haul clause and repeal of
the antl-poolng clause, together with some
better definition of terms used in the present
law, at the next session of congress, will re-
suit in bringing about a better condition of
affairs